


Fine

by SureWhyNot9



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SureWhyNot9/pseuds/SureWhyNot9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alien attack on the Lost Light leaves Swerve injured and Ultra Magnus armorless for a little while. They're stuck in the bar until help arrives, but I'm sure they'll find something to talk about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> takes place sometime during season two, i’m pretending U1 Rewind never died, and also i tear Swerve’s arm off within the first 500 words. so there’s that.

It was the middle of shift change when the first aliens appeared. Huge, toothy things with multiple mouths and more legs than necessary. They started at both ends of the ship and converged toward the center, attacking everyone in their way and chewing on whoever they could get their jaws around. Ultra Magnus was holding the main hallway outside the bar while those inside weaponed up and joined the fray. The last of the frontliners were only a few seconds gone when group of seven of the things came around the corner and attacked Ultra Magnus at once. One of them latched onto the back of his neck and the world tilted and shrank and then went black.

Minimus Ambus came back online halfway out of the Magnus armor with a trio of minibots hovering over him.

Tailgate’s vizor flared. “You’re alright!”

"Hey, Mags, welcome back!" Swerve said with a grin. "You are alright, right?"

"I am -" Minimus winced, sitting up and disengaging the rest of the armor from his frame. "Functioning adequately." He allowed Swerve and Rewind to help him crawl the rest of the way out of the armor. "Where is everyone?"

Tailgate helped the three of them down from the pile of - partly chewed - blue and white metal. “They’re chasing the things that attacked you. Whirl said something about a bug hunt.”

Swerve looked sheepish. “Yeah, Whirl might be a little  _completely fendered_.”

Minimus surveyed the hallway. Claw marks rent the walls and floor, and splattered everywhere was energon and… something blue-green and viscous. One of the aliens lay crushed beneath the Magnus armor and Minimus took some small satisfaction in having at least taken one down with him. He began prying at the oversized blaster still in - uh,  _his_  fist.

"Wow." Rewind’s camera blinked to life and swept over the scene. "What are those things?"

"Not Cybertronian." Minimus said, pulling a little too hard. The blaster flew out of his hand and skidded across the floor. The other minibots pretended not to notice, though he could see Swerve stifling a laugh as Minimus chased down the offending weapon.

"Definitely not." Tailgate said, not quite keeping the giggle out of his voice.

Swerve poked at the corpse with his blaster. “Do you think they were trying to eat you are just kill you?”

"Um, guys?" Tailgate interjected. "Do you hear that?"

All four of them stopped moving and listened. It was quiet for a moment, then there was the sound of too many padded feet headed in their direction. Minimus looked back toward the bar. The entrance was damaged but the doors were still intact. “Get inside, we can hold them off from there.”

The alien that came around the corner would have been half his size in the Magnus armor, but as it was the thing could swallow him whole. Instead it crashed through the hallway like it wasn’t in control of its own legs, sending them all flying. Getting back to his feet, Minimus picked up the fallen weapon and hefted it with ease. Magnus armor or no, he was still a soldier, he -

"Swerve!" Tailgate’s panicked yell was enough to snap his attention back to the other bots with him. The eight-legged interloper chewed on Swerve’s arm - the My First Blaster still held in its three-fingered grip - while the rest of the bartender was dragged back into the relative safety of the bar by his friends. Minimus adjusted. Magnus armor or not, he was still the ship’s second in command. This crew was under his protection. He braced the gun - as long as he was tall - against his hip. Minimus fired on the alien and drove it further down the hall, backing into the bar while Tailgate and Rewind wrestled the door shut. 

It took ten minutes for the four of them to set up a proper barricade on the door. The sounds of snarling and claws on metal retreated to further parts of the ship. Still, every time they set up another layer Tailgate would climb up and peer through the bullet holes at the top of the door to make sure they weren’t locking anyone outside.

Once they retreated behind the bar, it was clear just waiting out the siege wasn’t going to happen. Tailgate - in a much calmer state than Minimus would have anticipated - crouched with Rewind on either side of Swerve, who was trying to convince them he was fine. The hole where his arm used to be was leaking energon in a steady stream in spite of the pressure he was trying to put on it with his remaining hand. Minimus set down his blaster and moved in to inspect.

"It’s just a scratch, really! Bots lose arms all the time." Swerve protested.

Minimus’ frown deepened. “What is your self-repair telling you?”

"Um." Swerve flinched. "Main energon line rupture. Also, y’know -" he waved his hand in the space to his side. "Armless."

Tailgate let out a tiny noise that could only be interpreted as panic.

Minimus felt Swerve’s EM field reach out to Tailgate soothingly and pulled his own field in tight. He had to remind himself that without the armor acting as a buffer he had to be much more careful about how much he broadcast.

Unable to reach Tailgate, Swerve grabbed Rewind’s hand instead, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll be fine, see? I’m already less, um. Leaky.”

"Presumably your repair nanytes have begun work patching your injury. I would not recommend moving until we can get you proper medical attention." Minimus reached to activate his comm line on instinct and stopped halfway. "Can any of you reach the others?"

There was a pause, three communication systems buzzing to life. Rewind shook his helm first. “Nothing but static.”

"Same."

"We’ll have to find another way to contact the medbay."

"Could we go through the vents?" Three helms swiveled to look where Tailgate pointed. The ventilation shaft that opened over the bar loomed above them. "Send one of us to the medbay for help."

Rewind gave a thoughtful hum. “They’re not gonna be able to get here unless there’s a clear path.”

Minimus nodded. “Two then. One of us will alert First Aid to Swerve’s status, the other will have to make contact with the captain and apprise him of our situation.” Minimus made to stand. “I -“

"No!" Tailgate clapped his hands over his mask at his own outburst, then dropped them and pushed on. "You have to stay here with Swerve, you’re the only one who can lift that thing." he said, pointing at the gun leaning against the bar.

"Tailgate’s right." Rewind said. "Besides, we know the vent layout. You’ve never been up there before."

Minimus huffed out a ventilation and relented. “Very well. Later, you will have to explain to me  _how_  exactly you know the layout of the ventilation system.”

Tailgate at least had the good grace to look embarrassed.

The three of them stood on the bar and Tailgate stood on Minimus’ shoulders to reach the vent cover. Then - ignoring Swerve’s running commentary of their progress - Minimus lifted Rewind and Tailgate into the vent opening one after the other.

"Rewind?"

"Medbay, on it."

"And Tailgate?"

"Find the captain."

"Good."

"Good luck!" Swerve called from the floor.

Minimus jumped down from the counter. He spotted a clustering of their footprints on the bar top, but given the state of the rest of the room they were nearly unnoticeable.

Tailgate poked his head back out of the grate. “Um. Magnus? Which captain am I looking for?” he asked quietly.

Minimus paused. “… Whichever one you find first.”

"Be careful! Don’t get eaten!"

Tailgate pointed down at Swerve. “Make sure nothing happens to him!”

Minimus gave him a stiff nod and the waste disposal unit crawled out of sight.

"Don’t worry!" Swerve called after them cheerfully. "I’m fine!"

"Swerve." Minimus said sternly. "You are not fine."

Swerve’s smile looked a little forced. “Yeah, but they don’t need to know that.” He flopped his arm in a half-formed gesture. “It would just distract them. Can’t have them thinking about my dumb self leaking to death back here while they’re crawling around in enemy territory. Don’t want those things to hear them. The vents aren’t  _that_  sturdy.”

They lapsed into an awkward pause. Both mechs stared at the empty vent opening for a moment before something occurred to Minimus. “Tailgate and Rewind and yourself. I am aware that you are friends, but are you…” Minimus trailed off. It was none of his business. Inappropriate of him to ask, even. Why had the thought crossed his mind?

"We’re an "us"." Swerve answered, unfazed by Minimus’ sudden hesitance.

"A trine?"

"Eh. Less formal. We’re  _together_  but we can also hypothetically see other bots. Rewind’s got this theory that all minis have a thing for bigger bots and apparently he’s right. I mean, Rewind’s got Chromedome and Tailgate’s got Big, Purple, and Angry and have you seen the way Getaway’s been chasing him lately?”

Swerve looked back to him expectantly and Minimus realized he was supposed to respond. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Swerve laughed. “Oh, you will now! For a spy he’s  _really_  bad at the whole “subtle” thing. Anyway, Me and Rewind and Tailgate are… mates? Dating? We’re not really doing the whole courtship thing because neither of them are looking to bond but we’re a semipermanent fixture.”

Minimus turned to look at Swerve. “You seem well-suited to each other.” he noted that despite Swerve’s insistence that he was “fine” the leaking from his shoulder socket still hadn’t stopped. He made a quick visual sweep of the bar contents and spotted a stack of clean cloths on one end.

"I think the whole mini’s digging large frames thing is a myth. I mean there aren’t a whole lot of us around anymore so maybe it just looks like we all have a thing for big mechs but really there just aren’t enough of us to go around. Sure I had that thing for Blurr but - What are you doing?" Swerve asked, cutting himself off.

Minimus knelt next to him, one hand resting on Swerve’s chest plate to keep him from moving. “I’m going to tie this around the ruptured line.”

"Uh… not that I don’t trust you Mags - Magnus?" Swerve cracked a smile. "MiniMags?"

"Minimus."

"Sure, um, Minimus." Swerve’s smile tilted and he caught his lower lip pate between his dentae for just a moment. Minimus had no idea what to make of that expression or the itching his spark did in response. "Do you have the training to be doing this?"

Minimus dropped his optics to focus on his work. “I have enough field experience to preform this task. At best, this will stop or slow your energon loss so your self-repair can more efficiently plug the leak.”

"At worst?" Swerve asked.

"It will do nothing."

"Oh. Cool." Swerve craned his helm to look at the quick patch job. Minimus settled back on the opposite side of the space behind the bar so he could keep an eye on him. Swerve glanced toward the vent. "What was I talking about?" Minimus wasn’t sure if he should get Swerve talking again or not. He didn’t mind the chatter, but the topic - "Oh yeah, Rewind’s "every mini needs a full-sized lover" theory. I don’t buy it. I  _did_ , but now I… don’t.” Swerve grinned. “What d’you think?”

The question startled him. It took a few seconds for the standard answer to form in his vocalizer. “Ultra Magnus is not a figure of romance.”

Swerve laughed, then coughed suddenly. “I would argue against that, but that’s not what I asked. What do  _you_  think?” Swerve’s vizor flared brighter for the briefest of moments. “Is  _Minimus Ambus_  a figure of romance?”

Minimus’ vocalizer let out an embarrassing click as it reset.

"Come on Mins, you’ve only been Ultra Magnus for as long as the Tyrest thing was going on, you were Minimus Ambus for a long time before that. You’ve got the field experience, did you ever have a thing for a mech twice your size?"

"I - can’t recall."

"Come on, Mins!"

"I spent the majority of my time online in my secondary frame. It was of a more average size than either the Magnus armor or myself. Sometimes I forget that I’m actually quite… small."

Swerve’s vizor flickered. “Oh. Huh. I never saw medium-sized Minimus. Guess I sorta forgot.” Swerve tilted his helm slightly to one side and Minimus  _felt_ Swerve’s optics sweep over him. “But now you -” Swerve stopped himself. “Do you not like being small?”

"I don’t think about it. Do you?" he asked.

"No, not really. I just feel normal and then everyone else is extra large. Magnus - you, in the Magnus armor, are kinda massive. It’s terrifying which I’ll bet is a good thing for you since you were the Duly Appointed Enforcer of arresting bad guys but I always -" Swerve stopped again. Minimus felt his frown deepen and Swerve’s smile widened a bit in response, though it seemed strained. "Never mind." Swerve looked back up at the empty vent opening. "How do you think they’re doing?"

"As long as they remain in the vents and out of sight they should be safe."

Swerve’s hand went to his shoulder absently. “My fuel levels are still dropping pretty fast. D’you think that’s from my self-repair, or am I still leaking to death?”

"A combination of both is most likely."

"Hmph. If I die, I’m leaving the bar to Bluestreak. Don’t let him change the name though."

Minimus watched Swerve’s vizor dim. “If the bar were his, legally I could do nothing to stop him from changing its name. However I would advise him against altering it.”

Swerve grinned. “Tailgate and Rewind will back you up on that. Just catch them sometime when they’re not mourning my loss in the arms of their oversized lovers.”

Minimus looked at Swerve pointedly, but he was still staring up at the ventilation shaft. “Swerve you are not doing well, but we will not allow you to offline here.”

That caught Swerve’s attention. “We?”

"Tailgate and Rewind are doing their best to get you aid, and I will not allow anything to harm you in the meantime."

"Aw, Minimus, I didn’t know you cared." Swerve said with a sardonic smile.

Minimus’ vocalizer clicked  _again_  in embarrassment. “I -” He scrambled to change the subject. “You don’t think Rewind and Tailgate would stay together in your absence?”

"Oh no, they would. They’d convince the big guys to try a quatern at least. It’d probably work, too." Swerve gave Minimus a watery grin "Those two?  _Very_ persuasive.”

"And you?"

"Me?" Swerve’s wry chuckle was more cough than laugh by that point. "Not so much."

"That’s not what I meant. You think they’d move on from you that quickly?"

Swerve’s smile caved in at the corners. “Sometimes I don’t even think it’d take me dying.” he joked. Minimus was beginning to recognize the expression and severely dislike the way it didn’t affect Swerve’s voice. Years of practice schooling his own reactions and he was only starting to see through Swerve’s obvious front because the mech was leaking out two feet in front of him. Swerve shifted slightly. “Heh, look at me, I’m worse than Huffer. Nothing but complaints. Did I ever tell you about the time Blurr -“

"Swerve." Minimus cut him off. Swerve’s mouth snapped shut and his mouth flattened into a thin line. Minimus wondered what exactly that meant. "I don’t care about Blurr."

Swerve flinched. “Oh, well -“

"Tell me about Tailgate and Rewind."

Swerve’s vizor flickered. The corners of his mouth turned up again, smile spreading to its rightful place on his faceplates as if he hadn’t been contemplating his mates moving on without him only moments before. “ _Those two_ , wow, I have enough dirt on them to build my own planet.” he bragged. “But even if I didn’t love ‘em it’s all useless as blackmail. Way too cute. Rewind plays recordings in his recharge. No video feed and the volume’s always on low so unless he hits a pocket of screaming or gunfire it’s like ‘charging next to a white noise machine. Tailgate can’t stay still unless he’s practically on top of him and he  _hums_. Songs, or just tuneless noise, and sometimes his vents get stuck and they whistle a little.”

Minimus settled back against the bar, sinking into Swerve’s chatter. It was surprisingly pleasant. Swerve drifted between a sort of dreaminess and excitement and - it took Minimus an embarrassingly long time to notice - his expression changed with his tone. Minimus made another mental note that the flat smile Swerve usually wore was not to be trusted. Frenzied banging on the bar door snapped him out of his reverie. Minimus looked over the bar top, shouldering the gun he had laid aside and leveling it across the bar top at the entrance. He waited. There was more scratching, an outburst of snarling followed by gunfire, then the shuffling faded into the distance and it was quiet again. Too quiet, Minimus realized. Swerve had stopped talking. Minimus set down the gun and turned back to his companion.

Swerve’s vizor was dim, but not entirely unlit. He had slumped a few inches further down the wall.

Minimus knelt down in front of him and placed a hand on his undamaged shoulder. “Swerve.”

"Oh." Swerve’s vizor flickered back to life. "Sorry, musta drifted for a second there." Swerve shifted to look at Minimus more directly. "Hey Mins,"

"Minimus, please." Minimus corrected automatically.

Swerve coughed out a laugh. “Right. Your face thing.” he reached up to tap between his own nose and mouth. “What’s it for?”

The moment in which Minimus had no idea what Swerve was talking about was quite… telling. What exactly did it say about him that he was so fully committed to being Ultra Magnus that he - even for a second - forgot what his own face looked like. Minimus shook off the disquieting thought as best he could. “It’s an insignia. It identifies myself as having a place in the House of Ambus.”

"Yeah but does it do anything?" Swerve pressed.

"It serves no purpose outside of its appearance." Minimus looked up at the still open air vent. Surely Rewind and Tailgate would have made it to their destinations by now. Unless they had gotten lost. Swerve was still watching at him when he looked back. "Swerve."

"Hm?"

"What are you doing."

"I’m thinking. I do that sometimes."

"Swerve…"

"Could I touch it?" Swerve asked, gesturing vaguely. "The insignia. I just -" his hand dropped back to his lap. "That’s weird, isn’t it. That was a weird thing to ask. Also maybe against regulations. Is asking to touch your superior officer’s face considered harassment?"

"Swerve."

"Forget it, Mins."

"Minimus."

"Minimus, right, sorry."

"Swerve."

Swerve cracked a weak smile. “I thought it was Minimus.”

” _Swerve_.” Minimus placed a hand over Swerve mouth and immediately regretted it. Swerve was shaking slightly and his faceplates were warm, likely the result of his repair nanytes working overtime. Minimus vented a sigh and dropped his hand to Swerve’s intact shoulder. “You would be in violation of section twelve, subsection one, paragraph four if you did so without my permission, but under the circumstances, yes, you may… touch it.”

"Section twelve, subsection one, paragraph four. I gotta remember that." Swerve mumbled.

"You should renew your knowledge of the entirety of the Autobot Code." Minimus said, his voice barely louder.

"Heh. Would you like that?"

"…Yes. I would."

"Then I will." Swerve reached up slowly, as if waiting for Minimus to withdraw his permission. His hand was shaking too. His fingertips landed on the strip of metal and Minimus froze. No one else had touched his face in years and his recollection of how sensitive his facial insignia was had… dimmed. Swerve was gentle. He traced the angles out from the center and pinched one of the tips. Minimus’ frown deepened and Swerve smoothed his thumb over the irritation. "Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s cute." Swerve’s vizor dimmed. "You’re cute."

Minimus shuttered his optics briefly. “Swerve, I believe you’ve become delirious from energon loss.”

Swerve laughed. “Yeah, probably. I mean you’re cute all the time, but I feel dizzier than usual.”

"I don’t -" Minimus paused, debating for a moment how exactly to respond to that. "-I don’t usually look like this."

"Don’t get me wrong, Magnus is hot and all in that huge intimidating crush-you-with-one-hand way but  _you_.” Swerve hooked his fingertips under Minimus’ chin and tugged him closer until their forehelms clanked together softly. Swerve’s vizor flicked off and he ex-vented softly. “Figures my one big-bot crush turns out to be another mini in disguise. Do I have a type or what? Smart and brave and firmly in my own weight class.”

"Swerve…"

"You’re saying my name a lot."

Minimus ex-vented a sigh. “Because you won’t let me finish a sentence.”

"Oh."

"Your mates care for you deeply."

"Mm. That’s." Minimus was too close to see the way Swerve’s mouth changed to reflect unbotherd confusion. "Sorta out of nowhere. Y’ wanna tell me somethin’?"

Minimus felt his faceplates heat. “I’d rather you didn’t die and I’m certain they would be spark broken at your loss as well.” He stated firmly.

"Thanks, Minimus." Swerve murmured. "Tha’s real motivational."

Minimus was carefully pulled forward so their mouths were barely touching. A shiver rattled his frame and he felt Swerve’s mouth curve up in a smile. “I’m serious.”

"So am I." Swerve pressed their lip components together, a tiny spark of static zipping between them. His hand dropped to his lap and he slumped back against the wall, unconscious.

Minimus stared at him. “Oh.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> requisite follow up. with talking and stuff.

It took two hours for them to be found by something that didn’t have eight legs and a taste for metal. Rewind had First Aid with him when Minimus tore the barricade down and Swerve was carried to the medbay with the black and white bot at his heels. Tailgate appeared just long enough for Minimus to tell him where his mates were before running off again, a stoically concerned Cyclonus trailing in his wake. Apparently he hadn’t been able to locate either of the captains in the fray before Cyclonus - somehow - spotted him peeking out from the vent system and took matters into his own hands.

The ship was an absolute mess, but other than Swerve there were surprisingly few casualties. Apparently the creatures were mostly interested in mechs below a certain size. Minimus wasn’t sure how he’d been singled out while still in the Magnus armor, but with Rung guarded by four of the toughest mechs on board, that left the majority of the invading force attacking the bar with nothing to show for it. It took less than two days to get Ultra Magnus back up and about and he was glad for it. There was so much to do.

It was almost a week before Ultra Magnus realized there was someone he hadn’t seen. With all the chaos it would be easy to dismiss as simply being busy but Swerve was off duty until his arm could be reconstructed. Even while he couldn’t do his job he could be found in the bar, and always with either Tailgate or Rewind by his side. He knew he should, but Ultra Magnus didn’t so much as stop in to see how he was doing.

Avoidance was unacceptable behavior on his part. At the very least he should check in, make sure he was recovering well. It would be polite. Magnus cleared his schedule at a time when the bar would be closed but its owner would be present. If he was going to see Swerve he might as well make the most of the trip.

* * *

Swerve missed being able to run his own bar. He probably would have figured out a way to make drinks with only one hand, but instead he was organizing the back rooms and taking inventory until one of his mates caught him and threatened to tell the medics he wasn’t ‘resting properly’. While losing an arm wasn’t that big of a deal in most cases, the alien that had taken a bite out of him had also mangled one of his main fuel lines badly enough that his self-repair had done more harm than good while patching the holes. Undoing the damage his own systems had inflicted took time, and afterward that section of fuel line had to be replaced entirely and no part of the actual arm could be replaced until his circulatory system reintegrated. Long story short, it took much longer than usual for Swerve to get his arm back.

That afternoon Tailgate and Rewind were both elsewhere, leaving Swerve to sit at the bar “where Blustreak can make sure you don’t do anything!!” with a blank datapad and nothing to do. It wasn’t busy, but Bluestreak was off taking care of things always until the moment Swerve tried to leave, and then he would appear out of nowhere and threaten to comm Tailgate and the  _last_  thing Swerve wanted was to bother his mates even more but no one would stick around long enough to talk to him. With no productive ways to distract himself he started planning out how to start a prank war and making a list of people to use as accomplices… and then stopped.

Swerve looked out at the bar and tried to at least come up with a single target and couldn’t. He didn’t want Minimus to be upset with him. Swerve shoved that line of thinking out of his processor as fast as he could. Not Minimus, Ultra Magnus. Magnus, Magnus,  _Magnus_. It was easier thinking about him as Ultra Magnus because Ultra Magnus threw him in the brig and gave him rivet duty and only looked angry or angrier and other than that one night on Hedonia he had always been stiff and formal and never looked at Swerve with anything but disapproval and Ultra Magnus, at least, was way out of his league and protested all romantic advances. Swerve stared down at the bar top, Bluestreak chatting away with someone else over his helm. Maybe… he didn’t want Ultra Magnus’ disapproval, but maybe it was possible to do something about it? Minimus had said  something about re-learning the Autobot Code. Probably. Swerve was a little fuzzy on the details from right before he passed out, but even if he’d only imagined that part of the conversation he was sure knowing the Code better was something Minimus -  _Ultra Magnus_  would approve of.

He borrowed Tailgate’s copy of the unabridged Autobot Code and started reading that night. It was awful and dry and boring except there were contingencies for absolutely everything. Rules and - Swerve had kind of forgotten that the Code covered  _everything_  - exceptions to the rules. Swerve read the section on fraternization with a superior officer three times. 

His sudden interest in the Code didn’t go unnoticed by his mates.

"So! Are you gonna ask him or what?" Rewind asked finally. It was Swerve’s first two-armed night and he was behind the bar after closing, checking everything over.

Swerve couldn’t stop his faceplates from heating. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” he said, picking up an already clean glass and wiping it down.

Tailgate laughed. “Ultra Magnus!” he leaned over the bar and propped himself up on his elbows. “You told up you liked him ages ago but now you’re doing research and everything!”

Rewind pulled himself up to sit on the bar top. “Come on, Swerve, ‘fess up.”

Swerve moved on to another perfectly clean glass. “I might be doing a little reconnaissance. I just want to stay on his good side for a while.” He gave a sheepish smile. “Besides, why would he even consider it, y’know? Who’d want to date me?”

"Us!" Tailgate said brightly. He reached across the bar and caught the front of Swerve’s chest plate with two fingers, pulling him close so he could bump their helms together.

Rewind leaned down and nuzzled Swerve’s cheek, a spark of static jumping from his mask to Swerve’s faceplates. Swerve broke into a huge smile. “ _We_ love you,” Rewind said firmly. “Even if Magnus can’t see what he’s missing.”

* * *

If anyone asked, Minimus would deny with vehemence that he scurried from his quarters to Swerve’s bar. The absence of the Magnus armor made the trip seem twice as long and left him feeling uncomfortable, but long hours of self debate had ended with him stepping from his tab suite as Minimus Ambus. What he thought - what he  _hoped_  - they would talk about was not something he wanted Ultra Magnus’ image wrapped up in. 

When he arrived Tailgate and Rewind were perched on the bar, Tailgate sprawled on his front and Rewind sitting cross-legged next to him. Behind the counter, Swerve had a polishing cloth out and was going over a glass, saying something to Tailgate about shift schedules while he cleaned. Rewind caught sight of Minimus hovering in the doorway first. He waved him over. “Magnus!” The use of his designation directed the other two’s attention. Swerve grinned and waved his new arm and Tailgate sat up.

Minimus strode over and stopped a few feet from the barstools. “How are you all?” he asked.

Tailgate laughed. “Swerve’s glad to be back to work.”

Swerve smacked Tailgate with the cloth in his hand. “Yeah, so? I missed being able to do two things at once.” he smiled. “I’m not in trouble already, am I? I swear I’ve been keeping out of trouble.” Minimus wasn’t sure what to make of the stifled snickers from the other two minibots. “Usually it’s Ultra Magnus that’s cracking down on rule-breakers, is something up with the armor?”

"No, I’m here in a nonprofessional capacity." Minimus squared his shoulders. "I came to see how you are recovering from your injuries and - ask if you would be interested in repeating certain activities from that night under less life-threatening circumstances."

Swerve looked confused. “You want me to lose my arm again?”

"No, the - other thing." Minimus said weakly.

"You really want him to talk your audials off again?" Rewind teased.

"I’m sure he’d be glad to." Tailgate added, nudging Rewind’s leg.

Minimus frowned, his uncertainly growing. “We kissed.”

Both Rewind and Tailgate turned to stare at Swerve. Swerve was looking at Minimus, the glass in his hands forgotten and his vizor nearly white.

Minimus’ frown deepened. “You didn’t tell them.”

Swerve shook his head, looking no less gobsmacked and a little more weak in the knees. “I thought I hallucinated it or something. There’s no way you’d let me -” Minimus had the distinct impression that Swerve was on the verge of shutdown. “-kiss you.”

"I -" Minimus stopped himself short. "I apologize. This was a mistake. It is good to see you recovering so well." He said as quickly as he could. He turned on his heel and headed for the door, wishing he was in the Magnus armor still so it wasn’t so far away.

"Wait!" The was the clattering of a glass being set down carelessly and the clank and scuffle of Swerve scrambling to get out from behind the bar but Minimus kept walking. "Minimus, wait, I -" Swerve cut him off before he reached the exit. "You - would you -"

Minimus squared his jaw, waiting for Swerve to collect himself and attempt a polite letdown.

"Section fifteen, subsection two, paragraph one." Swerve blurted out.

Minimus cycled his optic shutters. “What?”

Swerve shifted awkwardly. “Section fifteen, subsection two, paragraph one.” he repeated, taking a careful step forward. “It’s about -“

"Fraternization between mechs of different ranks." Minimus finished for him. He knew that. But if  _Swerve_  knew that - Minimus’ spark spun faster. “You reread the Autobot Code.”

"Yeah, I did. Why not, y’know? All this free time and I thought -" Swerve shuffled his feet, pressing his hands together in front of him. They were slightly different shades of red. "- I thought you might appreciate not having to remind me of things like noise violations. Make it so you don’t have to come down here so often. Unless you wanted to! Be here. With… me."

Minimus nodded stiffly. “I would. However, if you are unavailable -“

"I am!" Swerve blurted. "We were actually just talking about it and they’ve been trying to get me to ask you out for ages but I know you’re out of my league and I know there’s rules about this sort of thing, I just never figured out there was  _rules_  about this sort of thing before so if you’d be okay with talking me through the contract stuff we could give it a try? And it seemed like you were okay with the whole Tailgate and Rewind thing before but we can talk about it more if we need to I just really like you, Minimus, and I’d like to kiss you again. Eventually.”

Minimus glanced over to the bar where Tailgate and Rewind were watching them. Both looked positively gleeful. Their presence didn’t feel like an intrusion and if he was honest Minimus didn’t mind the thought of being included in their - frankly confusing - web of relationships. Swerve seemed to understand the necessity for order in their situation though. “I would not be opposed to a more intimate relationship with you. If you are amicable, we could discuss terms further.” Swerve’s face lit up, his vizor bright and his smile incandescent. Minimus felt his faceplates heat sharply and pushed on before he could lose his nerve. “And you could kiss me again. Now.” he added quietly. “If you’d like.”

Swerve stepped closer, hands going to to Minimus’ shoulders.

"Mags!" An excited shout interrupted them. Tailgate was waving a hand at them and bouncing slightly where he sat. Minimus pretended not to notice the red light on the side of Rewind’s helm was shining in their direction. "Kiss him!"

Swerve laughed. “I got this, Tailgate.”

"No, I mean -" Tailgate fluttered his hands, struggling to elaborate, but Minimus caught his meaning. Minimus touched the side of Swerve’s helm to recall his attention. He pressed a kiss to the center of Swerve’s mouth. He drew back slightly, and when Swerve appeared to be speechless he did it again, sending a flicker of charge across the point of contact.

The hands on his shoulders tightened as he pulled away to give Swerve a little space. Swerve’s vizor flickered and a smile Minimus hadn’t seen before crept onto Swerve’s faceplates. “ _Oh_.”


End file.
